Kentucky has been notably successful in signing residents up for coverage under the new health care law. Residents with serious illnesses are getting treatment after years of putting off medical care because of the expense. They’re often receiving that care in a familiar venue, though: the hospital emergency room, with its around-the-clock access and its policy, enforced by federal law, of taking all comers.

The crisis over wait times and access to care within the Department of Veterans Affairs health system has raised questions about whether similar problems could occur in the broader health care system as government-subsidized coverage spreads throughout the country.

HealthCare.gov is working much better than it was at the start of October. But the woebegone federal website that must haul a system of affordable health coverage into place if the health care law is going to succeed has a long way to go and a short time to get there.

Big Tobacco might be the immovable object when it comes to resisting tighter legislation and regulation, but the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids — despite its relatively small size — is doing a pretty good impression of irresistible force.